Emma Gillespie (born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland), better known by her stage name Emma's Imagination, is a Scottish singer. She came to prominence after winning the

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 19 ...

TV talent contest '' Must Be the Music''. She was signed to

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

's music label

Future Records Future Records was a music imprint, based in London, England. It was founded in 2009. The label was closed in 2012. History In 2009, it was announced that Gary Barlow had been given his own music label, Future, by Universal as a reward for ...

. She released her debut solo album, '' Stand Still'' in January 2011.

Early years

Emma Gillespie was born in

and grew up in Dumfries where she attended St Joseph's College. She lived with her mother Sharon and stepfather. Gillespie was in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

in India at the time of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. She then went on to travel in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, with many of her ideas for music originating while travelling. Gillespie took up playing guitar when aged 16. Before coming to public attention, she spent time

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...

on the streets of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, to which she had moved a year before her breakthrough. She also spent time honing her skills performing in New York.
Gillespie released her debut single, "Stamp Your Feet", in September 2009, on independent label Up Next Records, based in Glasgow.

Music career

2010–11: ''Must Be the Music''

Emma's Imagination entered ''Must Be the Music'', broadcast on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

and Sky 1 HD. In the initial televised audition phase, as well as the three semi-finals and final, contestants sang in front of the judges,

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine st ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

, and

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas. She has a contralto vocal range. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 million records. ...

. The auditions took place in early August 2010 with musicians allowed to play their own compositions. The live finals were held at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-se ...

with a live audience behind the judges. During the finals, the public voted for their favourite act, which was Emma's Imagination. After appearing on the show, her first single, "

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", was released for sale by download and debuted at number 10 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart and number 2 on the

Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...

. The single also charted on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are b ...

, where it reached number 9 and on the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

, where it debuted at number 7. Emma's Imagination won the final on Sunday 19 September 2010, and received a prize of £100,000.

2011: ''Stand Still''

Following victory on the show, Emma's Imagination's second single, "Focus", debuted in the United Kingdom at number 7, her second British Top 10 placing. The single also debuted at number 1 on the Indie Chart, number 8 in Ireland and number 5 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Her debut album '' Stand Still'' was released in January 2011 and peaked at number 14 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. In 2012,

announced that he was closing his record label.

2013-present: Independent career

In 2013, Emma's Imagination released independently a 6-song EP, ''Underway'', produced by

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...

. This would be Emma's last release under the name Emma's Imagination, and she has used her birth name for subsequent releases. Gillespie released her second full-length album, ''Pier Siamese'', in April 2016. Emma's singing gained a wider audience when it featured in

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older chil ...

Bedtime Hour series ''Hushabye Lullabye'' in 2020.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Notes

* ¹ "Stamp Your Feet" did not chart when it was first released, it charted in October 2010 at the same time she was announced winner of the ''Must Be the Music'' contest.

Promotional singles

*2010 – "Faerie Lights"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emma's Imagination People from Dumfries Musicians from Edinburgh 21st-century Scottish women singers Scottish pop guitarists Scottish pop singers Living people People educated at St Joseph's College, Dumfries Year of birth missing (living people)